Students Shed Pounds At Weight-Loss Boarding School

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (December 21, 2012)--A dozen Missouri students lost a total of more than 750 pounds after their school district sent them to a weight-loss program at a boarding school in South Carolina.

The students from Independence, Mo., spent the semester at MindStream Academy in Bluffton, S.C., where along with academics, they learned to exercise and eat healthier.

Meanwhile, their parents met with a MindStream staffer back in Missouri to learn how to support the students when they returned.

Jason Alexander, 16, said he weighed 326 pounds four months ago, but now he weighs in at 233 pounds and he aims to lose about 50 more to qualify for military service after graduation.

While individual families have long enrolled children in weight-loss programs, the Independence school district is believed to be the first to send a group of students to such a program.

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